Nabbed
by lizardcookie
Summary: Working for the Order had always been a risk. Members disappeared or were killed more often than not, but James Potter and Lily Evans had managed to escape the worst of it. That is, until a simple mission from Dumbledore goes horribly wrong. Trigger warning for torture, abuse, rape.
1. Prologue

_"No," argued the man in the rightmost seat, rubbing his temple impatiently, "you're completely mixed up. The only way to-"_

_But whatever the man with scars down his cheeks intended to say was interrupted by the sound of offended bar-goers, mumbling indignantly at someone pushing through the crowd. The three men shifted their attention to the ruckus, only realize they knew who was causing it. _

_Remus had time to let out, "What the-" before Sirius reached them, eyes wide and face pale. _

_"James," he panted, shaking his head and reaching a hand to his best friend's shoulder, "they got her. They took Lily."_

* * *

**AN:/** First multichapter! Special thanks to Jess (Jess the Enthusiast) for title inspiration and encouragement!


	2. A Poison

They were a charming couple to behold as the pair walked down the street. The young woman had one hand in her pocket and the other one wrapped protectively around her companion's upper arm as her thick hair whipped about in the wind beneath the hat that covered her eyes. The young man, very tall compared to her and with long dark hair covering his pale face, kept his eyes roaming through the dirty streets, though it seemed that he never found what he was looking for. The couple contrasted with the stark neighborhood about them, which seemed to fade in comparison to their allure. One, two, three more blocks they walked down until they turned the corner at a run down pub. The woman briefly directed her eyes, brilliant and green, towards the rowdy evening crowd drinking after the work day. A group of men closest to them took notice.

"Hey sweetheart! Come down and have a drink so I can look at you better."

"Nice ass, lady!"

She casually flicked them off as the pair walked past, showing the rather large diamond ring that rested on her ring finger.

"Already claimed, pretty? That's a shame, marriage'll only kill ya."

"I won't tell if you won't tell!" shouted the man to his right, raising his beer in the air as the table erupted in laughter at his taunt.

"Prats," Sirius muttered as they continued to walk down the alley and spared the table an annoyed glare.

"I'm glad you're not James." Lily remarked, looking up to talk to Sirius. "He would've completely gotten off focus of what we're doing. Though, I think if we're posing as a couple, it would have been better to yell at them that you had 'claimed' me. Defended my honor and what not."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Lily. "Like I need to protect you from a lot of drunken Muggles. Hell, I'd pay good money to sit back and watch the wrath of Lily Evans have a go at someone who isn't a Death Eater. It'd make a nice change. I'll leave that domineering codswallop to Prongs, love."

Lily rolled her eyes, but a faint smile had formed on her lips as her thoughts strayed to James and she turned the ring on her finger absentmindedly. She shifted her attention back to Sirius and mocked, "Don't tell me you're bored in the Order, Sirius? Nonstop action and a new way to get near killed every other night? This is the exact thing you need to be doing."

"Oh, don't act like you don't enjoy it every bit as much as I do," replied Sirius, grinning down at Lily as they turned a corner, destination nearing. "I've seen you fight, and I don't envy the poor bastards on the other end of your wand. Plus," Sirius smirked, "it's no secret that you and James shag like monkeys after missions or confrontations. You must love the Order for that."

Lily had stopped walking and felt the red blush creep up her neck and heat rise to her face as Sirius relished what his words had done. He would never properly admit it, but having Lily Evans in his life was way better than he imagined it would be— both of them had lost siblings to hate and ignorance, and after he had come around to the fact that she'd be a permanent part of his life if Prongs were to remain as such, they'd become friends, and eventually, family. In a way, she replaced the brother he lost, and he replaced her sister. It was the best they could do to avoid the real pain their siblings had caused.

Lily closed her eyes. "I cannot believe you just said that."

"Would you look at that, dear, we're here!" And with that, Sirius dragged Lily through the door of the run down inn that was the reason why they were posing as a couple and wandering about the desolate Muggle area.

It was a lead that Dumbledore wanted looked into. For weeks, the Order had been unsuccessfully tracking down the origin of certain illegal potions and poisons that Death Eaters were using on both Muggles and unsuspecting wizards, which resulted in a seemingly unconnected array of deaths over the last few months. Thanks to Dung and his –ahem- prestigious intell, Dumbledore and Moody had been able to narrow down the possible areas of origin to this Muggle inn (hijacked by dark wizards) or the pub five blocks down, where one would find James, Remus, and Peter on this same night pretending to work the crowd while taking detail of whomever passed in and out of the doors.

Lily rolled her eyes and followed Sirius through the small door, grabbing hold of his arm once more. She would at least attempt to salvage their couple cover story. It was late at eleven PM, but a man was still sitting behind the dingy front desk flipping through the newspaper. He glanced up when he heard Sirius and Lily stumble through the door.

"Room?" he huffed, looking none too pleased about the interruption from their arrival.

"Yes, my good man!" Sirius returned jovially, lifting Lily's arm enthusiastically. "Nothing for m'lady except the finest establishments in town."

He received a subtle stomp on the foot. "Forgive him," said Lily, rolling her eyes at her fake-fiancé smiling at the man and holding out some Muggle money. "He's just a bit excited, I rarely allow him in public. It's like letting a dog out the kennel," she finished, placing more emphasis than necessary on the last bit.

"Hmph," was all the inn keeper had in reply, eyeing Lily's hand and noticing the lack of a wedding band. He walked away, muttering something about "kids shacking up" and limped into the back room.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter once the inn keeper was out of sight. "The art of the subtle has been lost on you, Lily."

"I'm surrounded by you lot all the time, what do you expect?" Lily was walking along the side wall of the room, wand concealed in the sleeve of her jacket as she muttered incoherently. "Watch for him to come back, will you?" She continued walking along the next wall, muttering the same complicated charm under her breath.

"Would you look at that…" she heard Sirius mutter from across the room.

"Hmm?" was all Lily could say before there was a loud thud of something heavy followed by the sound of something scraping across the floor. "What in Merlin's pants-" Lily turned to find Sirius in the opposite corner, hunched over an old, dusty piano and begin to play –Bach?- fingers moving gracefully over the keys as continued through a few measures of the song. Lily stood where she was, listening to music. She'd never taken piano lessons as a child (too expensive) but she could recognize that Sirius had a major talent for playing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he muttered quietly to himself, not moving his hands from above the keys. He began a new song, softer than before so that he could continue to talk. "The piano is an old, elegant, and proper instrument. Perfect for the Pureblood son to learn." Sirius practically hissed the last bit out, completely still now. Lily walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. Sirius would do this sometimes, collapse into the shell his family created. It took away his devil-may-care shield and left him miserable until someone (James) could coax him out of it. Sirius looked up at Lily.

"Sorry," He attempted a smile, but managed more of a grimace. "I shouldn't dump all this on you."

"What's a fake-fiancé for?" This got a small smile back to his face.

"I wasn't forced into piano lessons since I could walk and not learn how to use it against them, though." Sirius smirked as he played the opening riffs to Benny and the Jets, earning a laugh from Lily. "I'd wake up the whole household in the middle of the night with this. It'd drive Kreacher bonkers."

"Muggle rock, I like it." Lily laughed and turned away from the piano and back toward the wall, running her fingers over it. "I finished checking the place, but there aren't any secret rooms that we don't know about." They had spent the past few days planning and memorizing floor plans. Sirius joined her near the front desk again and finished her thoughts.

"So that means that if something is going on here, it's in one of the actual guest rooms or the basement," he muttered in thought. "That also means that we're going to have to manually snoop, and not by magic." A wide grin was on his face as his eyes lit up with mischief. "If only Filch were here, then it'd be just like the old days."

The innkeeper had finally returned from the back, bringing with him a set of keys.

"First floor, second door on your right."

"Thank you," Lily smiled gratefully as she grabbed the key from the man. Sirius led them to the corridor that the inn keep pointed towards, which was dark and dank, the smell of mold overwhelming Lily's senses at first. Sirius motioned for Lily to hand over the room key.

"An early honeymoon for us, Lily love," Sirius joked as he opened the door to reveal the "suite." A dirty mirror stood in the corner, left of the queen size bed topped by a dismal gray comforter.

"Goddammit, Sirius," came a voice, "if I ever hear those words from your mouth again, I swear I'm going to—"

"Prongs!" Smiling with boyish delight, Sirius reached inside his coat pocket for the mirror, "James, my good man, I see you're filling in your role as the jealous fiancé spying in on us. Oh, this is getting kinky."

"I'm going to strangle you," came the deadpan reply. Lily grabbed the mirror from Sirius to smile warmly at James through the glass. His tense expression didn't loosen.

"Hello, love."

"I don't like this," James confessed. "Dumbledore shouldn't have spilt us up for this. I don't like it."

"I know, but we'll meet up soon enough. Dumbledore knows what he's doing." She tried to soothe him, but James ran a hand through his hair in frustration, just as she had seen him do this entire week of mission planning. "Don't worry about this prat with me," Lily went on, trying to lighten his mood for both his sake and hers, "the poor thing thinks he's actually charming, and I don't have the heart to tell him otherwise." James finally smiled.

"I resent that!"

"She's right, Padfoot," but then James' scowl returned. "I have to go back out there, else I get suspicious for being in the loo too long. Be careful, both of you." He looked directly at Lily and said, "I'll see you soon, okay? Be safe." And he was gone.

"See?" piped Sirius, stowing the mirror back into his jacket. "He's just so good at that domineering crap."

"Well, I'm worried for them too," Lily confessed, "and the sooner this is resolved, the better." Sirius nodded and Lily dumped her purse on the bed to display its contents. "I've the floor map," she organized as she spoke, "a Secrecy Sensor, two vials of Polyjuice, and two bezoars I remembered to pack for us just in case."

Sirius pocketed his bezoar and opened the map. "We have two floors and a basement to cover, which means that we get a floor and a half. And, because you're a dirty cheat, you've got basement."

When the finer details of their mission had been worked out, Lily and Sirius were assigned partnership and left with the task of deciding who would handle what sector of the inn. The basement, of course, was the coveted area of investigation, being the most predictable place for any nefarious activity to be located. So a competition was made between Sirius and Lily through a game of Firewhiskey shots, that whoever could walk out the pub best whilst being properly sloshed would take the more exiting basement assignment.

Lily smiled sweetly in reply. "It was completely fair. I didn't cheat."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I still don't understand why I agreed that James could sub in for you. It was two against one."

"Ah," Lily protested, "but two against one Sirius Black. Look at the body index comparison. It would've been too easy if it were just me against you. Besides, I'm sure the witch across the bar would have been more than willing to help you out if you had just asked. I'd have allowed that."

He grinned devilishly in reply. "Oh, that she did, Evans. Helped me out a lot, you know, in my drunken time of need."

"I don't need the details."

"Fine then," he shrugged with a smile, then went back to business. "Our first sweep will be recon only, because if Dumbledore is right, there's going to be a pick up tonight and a one-on-one confrontation is the last thing we need. So, we'll do basement and second floor before meeting back on the first floor in about an hour." He glanced over at Lily. "You ready for this?"

"Always am," she nodded and picked up the vials of Polyjuice Potion, handing one to Sirius.

"Hold on," Sirius said, eyeing the bottle suspiciously, "I thought we were out of juice, which is why we're us at the moment."

"The Order's stocks are fresh out," Lily admitted, "and I've got two brews in the couldron, but those won't be finished for weeks. I may have nicked these two vials off Moody when he and Hagrid got a hold of the mead Dung had looted."

Sirius laughed. "Evans, you sly fox. Prongs would be proud."

"Who do you think gave them the idea to drink the mead?" Lily muttered, cheeks red.

"This is brilliant," he said, more than slightly amused.

"Yes, well, the potion lasts us the recon stage but nothing else." Lily instructed in an effort to regain focus. "If there's necessity for a fight after that, we do so in our true selves, as it should be."

"This Muggle will be my size, right?" Sirius asked, disdain dripping from his voice at the thought of being in a subpar body.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't be a diva," she told him, "I took the hair samples from our supply at headquarters." She still felt trepidation as she lifted her own vial to her lips. "Cheers." Lily closed her eyes and downed the potion— sour— in one gulp. The Polyjuice surged through her veins, and she felt herself grow a few inches taller, her boots resisting against her new feet, and looked down at her hair to see that her usual auburn waves were now blonde curls. Turning around, she saw a middle aged man standing in front of the mirror, poking his face with disgust. Sirius glanced at Lily.

"How come you get to stay pretty?" His voice was raspy, from smoking perhaps, and he pouted. "Ugh, my beautiful jacket is soiled by him. Never let me live to be old."

"God, you really are such a drama queen," she scoffed, her own voice high and icy, "and apparently I'm a bitch. Let's get going." As they walked to the door, ready to separate, Sirius grabbed Lily's shoulder gently.

"Honest, Lily," he said, "be careful. If anything happens… James…"

She kissed him on the cheek. "I could say the same for you." And with that, they exited the safety of the dingy room and began their mission. Lily made her way down the stuffy hall, listening for any noises besides Sirius' fading footsteps. The inn was still— other guests, if any, would be asleep at this hour (now past twelve). Walking as nonchalantly as possible, she crept to the door at the end of the corridor with a handwritten note taped to it: Basement. Off Limits to All Guests. She smirked as she pushed the handle, which immediately opened. She didn't trigger any alarms or immediate curse that should have been activated by her movements had there been anything worth protecting down there. Lily drew her wand and muttered quick Lumos as she held it aloft. Empty, she noticed, as far as the light could reach out, but there was still substantial area down the flight of stairs that would need inspection.

She shivered. Lily had hated the dark since she was a child. The first instance she could remember of being conscious of her magic was when her mum pushed her to remove the nightlight from her room. In her fright, Lily had to imagine floating lights all around her, and no sooner had she done that had her ceiling transformed into the sky, a full moon shining above her. But back then a full moon meant comfort, and now it meant terror. She still feared the dark— just a different sort. Darkness meant Dementors and Death Eaters and a whole manner of ways to die. It was in darkness that she fought Voldemort for the first time.

Lily rolled her shoulders, putting her mind back on the task at hand, and took her first step down the stairs. A steady drip, drip, dripping came from the back corner of the open floor below, but the darkness was too thick to penetrate much with her wand tip. The smell of mold hit her, overwhelming her, but there was something else, some other aroma, out of place.

Her foot hit the sixth step when someone hit her in the head with a section of plumbing pipe.

* * *

Boring. That's what Sirius realized his half of the recon was. The Muggle body he was in was uncomfortable and difficult to move around in, his clothes straining in protest of the beer gut he now sported. Why couldn't the Order stock some decent Muggles? It couldn't be that difficult to just yank the hair off of a twenty year old rather than a forty year old. Huffing in effort, Sirius decided it was fine to move on from the second floor and find Lily on the first. Half of their hour had passed, anyway. He shuffled past the one occupied room quietly— wouldn't want to relive the moment he realized there was a couple in there, er, sleeping— and walked down the stairwell once more. Now in the lobby, he saw the manager sitting at his desk again. Odd. He was supposed to be off duty for the night. Sirius gave the man a slight head nod, wary that he would recognize this middle age man was not one of his patrons. The man stared blankly ahead, still. Something's off, Sirius thought, walking up to the front desk. He snapped his fingers in the man's face.

"Thank you, sir, have a nice stay." Monotonous.

"What?"

"Thank you, sir, have a nice stay." And all at once, Sirius understood. He knew the signs of a poorly performed Imperius, after all.

"Shit, no. No." He ran to their room. "Lily!" There was no reply. "Bloody hell, answer me, Lily!" He stumbled back out into the hall, down the corridor and through the basement door.

The lights were on. The room was completely bare, save for three empty cauldrons and a blood stain on the sixth step.


	3. A Basement

Pounding. Throbbing. Hitting, hammering, an entire array of unpleasant and painful sensations radiated from the back of her head as she slowly regained consciousness. Her mind was foggy, and her body screamed in effort as she tried to lift herself and check her surroundings, which actually didn't take long due to the fact that wherever she was located was pitch black, save for the strip of pale yellow light shining beneath a door above her head. She was sitting up, her arms and legs attached to the appendages of a metal chair. Forcing itself over the pain in her wrists and ankles was the pain in her throat, parched and in desperate need of water. This was her best indicator of how long she had been out- a day at least, but more likely two.

Lily breathed in and out, in and out. There would be a way of escape. She was not going to die here.

Slowly, she became aware of noises beyond the door, of plates clinking and bottles noisily set down. Dinner, or lunch, or something. With the initial ringing in her head dimming, she could make out distinct voices.

"I wasn't going to take her, you see," bragged what roughly resembled… Mulciber, that's right, "I figured she was an Order member like we suspected, but I was curious as to why some blonde witch was in the stock room. Didn't recognize her. Soon as I packed the brews, I Apparated here with her and stored her- even if she wasn't Order, she might have had her, say, _uses_. And what do you have it, she starts to change and I knew that red hair and ugly face. One look at her left hand and I was knew it was the Evans girl- Potter's." His tale of triumph was meant with glorious laughter.

"Have you alerted the Dark Lord yet?" Came a raspy voice.

"I haven't. I was going to see what she could offer before I do."

"You think it wise to keep something like this from him?" There was a pause, then a curt reply.

"The Mudblood is mine to decide to what to do with and when to tell the master. That's my final word." The clanking of dishes once again drowned out the conversation, but Lily understood what it meant for her.

This cellar would be a living hell.

* * *

"We've been walking in circles for an hour, James," Remus prompted quietly, "there's nothing here."

James looked over his shoulder to glare at his friend. "We haven't looked enough. There's got to be some sort of—"

"Mate," Sirius grabbed James' shoulder, a bold move considering the welt he sported on his cheek from James' first plan of action after Sirius showed up at the bar (punch, yell, and then practically sprint to the inn), but Sirius knew James and therefore knew the fight had died inside of Prongs. Sirius had just made a scape goat at the bar for the real situation at hand, that Lily was gone and they had no idea where she was. He kept his gaze steady as he met James' own hard look. "It's time to head back to headquarters. We'll meet with Dumbledore and mass whatever information we can on this, but there's no use in looking for leads that don't exist here."

"Padfoot's right," Peter put in, stowing his wand in his pocket. He'd been quiet since they'd begun to search the dingy inn, more jumpy than usual. "Lily's not here, and if she's still alive we need to—" But James marched angrily over to Peter, easily towering over him in his sudden rage.

"If? There's no _if._ Lily's not dead." He turned from Peter, now directing his words at the group as a whole. "Lily's not dead," he hissed.

"None of us think that, James," Remus replied soothingly, but he narrowed his eyes at Peter, who looked abashed. "She's still alive."

James nodded, and looking at his friends— the old gang, the Marauders together as they hadn't been in a while— he felt his shoulders relax as both shame and fear began to take anger's place. Lily, gone without a trace except for _blood, _and he had no clue as to how to find her. Being kidnapped in war was one thing, but she was Muggleborn, the cause of the oncoming "impurity" of an ancient bloodline, and known member of the Order of the Phoenix. It broke James to know the horrors she would face, and he could do nothing about it as of now. He took a shuttering breath as his gaze flickered from Peter to Remus and rested on Sirius.

"Sorry," he muttered, indicating the light bruising on Sirius' face, who shrugged in return.

"This? Couldn't feel a thing, you pansy. You're getting weak and fat in your old age, Prongs."

James smiled. "Because nineteen is so old."

"Older than me, mate, and at east half my life expectancy if I'm lucky," Sirius scoffed. "Let's head back. Mad-Eye's going to serve my ass on a platter for this."

"And enjoy it," added Remus.

James appreciated the turn of conversation, using humor as a defense for an event none of them could have ever foreseen. They made their way to an appropriate Apparition spot, with only one thing on James' mind.

She's still alive.

* * *

The door opened, pouring light into the room and blinding Lily for a moment. It was Mulciber who stood in the door way, a smirk on his face with the air around him exuding pride in what he had accomplished. He didn't say anything, opting instead to bask in his own glory. Lily forced herself to remain neutral, her own expression disinterested, though inside her heart fluttered in panic. Order work had familiarized her with the pleasure Death Eater's drew from torture, and she had been on the receiving end of a fair number of their curses. Even still, she knew this situation was different. Alone, defenseless, and at the entire mercy of Mulciber.

"So," he started, now casually walking down the steps to stop in front of her. Mulciber took a few moments to walk the circle around her chair, hoping to intimidate her further by walking out of her range of vision. Despite her best efforts, Lily could feel her heart thud as more panic seeped in. She worked to steady her breathing as Mulciber spoke, still out of sight. "I knew I could smell something rotten at that inn. Your Mudblood stench was everywhere." His voice crawled through the air behind her, raspy and hateful. _Breathe, Lily._ "But what I'd like to know, rodent, is how you managed to find our supply." And suddenly his face was in front of hers, filthy breath permeating the air. Lily blinked, her exterior calm as fear coursed inside her.

"Pity," she replied. "But I can't seem to remember." He narrowed his eyes, then promptly swung his hand down to strike her cheek. She made no sound of pain.

"You whore," he spat, and she could feel the anger rise in the air around him. "Who tipped you? Who were you with? Who else is stupid enough to be in the Order of the Phoenix? Where is the headquarters?"

Lily said nothing.

"Fine," Mulciber growled, drawing out his wand, "I know how to get what I want. This is the fun part." And now calm as could be, he uttered a simple, "_Crucio!"_

Lily screamed.

* * *

She awoke with a cool wet rag draped across her forehead and a warmth radiating off something nearby. For that moment between the unconscious and waking, it was almost as if she had been taken home, away from the hell and into the warmth of James' embrace. The comfort was fleeting.

"You're up," a voice to her left breathed, and Lily froze in horror. "I was worried that the idiot had done permanent damage to you." She tried to bring all her senses into focus, because she knew the person sitting in the shadow of the flames by her feet. She knew that voice and sillouite and person and she hated it.

"Snape?" He leaned his head into the light, hook nose first, black eyes glittering. Lily felt a new panic. She had no idea how to avoid this, how to make this any more bearable, any less horrific.

"Lily," he answered calmly, "are you okay?"

"Oh, you know," she retorted acidly, "I'm used to being held in a cellar and tortured. Enough about me, really, how's your day been?"

"I'm merely here to help."

There was a moment of silence in which Lily calculated several strategies in her head at once, quickly realizing that the challenge before her would require an abandonment of pride. She dropped her head to her chest in weakness and exhaustion that was far too easy to feign. She whispered, "How long have I been here?"

"Over three days. I only found out today. I've been... away." She nodded.

"Where am I?"

"You know I can't answer that."

"Severus, please," she begged, "let me out of here."

"You know I can't do that."

Change of tactic. Playing pathetic had never been her thing, anyway. She lifted her head and glared. "Bullshit, Snape." Lily hissed. "You very well can, but you won't."

"No real harm is going to come to you. Just tell them names, Lily. I can make sure they'd let you go."

"_They? _You're acting like you aren't a part of this!"

"I don't like them holding you."

"Yeah, Snape? Join the club."

He sighed, exasperated. "Look, I'm trying to help you out here, so if you want to pass over this opportunity, then fine. But-" she cut him off.

"Was it your potion?" She hadn't realized until now that this was something on her mind.

Snape had the decency to look away when he admitted, "It was one of my finer brews." He spoke with a sort of reverence towards his work. "Undetectable in any drink, or edible object. Undetectable in the blood stream, even post mortem. The best part," and she could hear it again, the undeniable pride that she knew from him from all those years ago, sitting together in Potions class. This wasn't merely his finest brew- it was his own creation. Snape drawled on, "the best part lies in its precision and execution. Mere days after consumption, when the body is relaxed- sleeping- the nervous system fails, leaving the victim immobile and incapable of calling out. The potion diffuses, going through the veins like pools of flames until enough reaches the heart, which subsequently fails as it is essentially burned by the potion. The death is marked as a heart failure and forgotten."

Lily sat horrified as Snape gave his praise to the poison. "You're despicable," she whispered. There was nothing for her to do, stuck in the chair, but turn her head away from him and close her eyes. "Those were people, with families and friends that certainly won't forget them."

"They're Muggles, they don't mean much of anything."

"I can't believe I used to think I could save you." Lily confessed scathingly. "I thought that I could protect you from this side of yourself, but I was so clearly wrong."

His gaze was blank as he stared back at her, forcing an uneasy silence between them. He extended his hand to her knee.

"Don't touch me!" Lily screamed, and he withdrew as if she had sent a shock wave to him. Snape jumped up, agitated and offended before her turned his back to her. "Tell them the names, Lily. And get out the Order. This war doesn't need your blood."

"I'm not a traitor," Lily spat, infuriated, "and I'm not a coward. You, Snape, are _both_."

He twirled around, and for a moment it looked as if he were going to slap her, but instead his eyes flicked down to her fists, still held by the metal restraint, to the engagement ring still on her finger. "It's official, then?" He all but whispered. "You really are marrying that no good, low bastard? After everything he did to me?"

The only response she could think of was one that gave her immense hope in the midst of everything, the same answer that would kill all of his.

"I'm getting out of here," Lily started clearly, not allowing her voice to waver, "and I'm going to be married in less than two months to that 'no good, low bastard' and it's going to be the happiest day of my goddammed life, because James is the greatest man I've ever known."

Snape was out of the cellar in seconds, sweeping the tiny fire by her feet out of existence as well.

* * *

Five days without a sign of Lily, and James was beginning to feel it. Not the loneliness and the sorrow, that he had known since she was taken, but true despair, thoughts of never seeing her again, were torture.

Worse yet, Order duties continued. A giant attack in the North meant death and destruction for miles, with hundreds of memory charms required, and there was noticeable struggle without Lily's quick hand. James found himself forced to comfort victims, promising normality and giving them hope while inside, all of his was slipping away with no chance of stopping. Even with Sirius at his side, James couldn't produce a Patronus in the face of a Dementor attack near London.

For the first time, James accepted the possibility that Lily had been killed.

* * *

"Your friends are coming soon," Mulciber told her distractedly, looking down at his nails. Her heart stopped.

"What?" Her shirt was drenched in sweat, and she considered the possibility that her wrist was broken- her arm had jerked as a reflex in this round of 'interrogation,' if it could even be called that. Mulciber lost interest in asking questions after days of her resisting. She was ready for the day that he called it quits and killed her, rather than continuing to administer the Cruciatus and other curses she had never fathomed to no avail. Lily was exhausted, her body at minimum capacity and her mind starting to slip. But what he said to her was so unexpected she perked her ears.

"The Order of the Phoenix is coming. You see, Mudblood, you think that they're safe because you wouldn't cough up names." He smiled triumphantly and marched back and forth in front of her, Lily's head spinning in horror. Mulciber continued, "What use do we have of names when we could have the actual Order here on a desperate mission to save you, all together in our trap?" He came dangerously close to her face, his breath filling her nose as he whispered, "I'm sure Potter'll be first one here, don't you think? One pathetic girl for a the lot of blood traitors and Aurors. See, you served some use." Mulciber pulled her hair as his hand gripped the back of her neck, and though he didn't tighten his grab, he trailed his hand down until it rested upon her breast. Lily didn't breathe.

He pulled his hand up unexpectedly, backing up, and she didn't dare move, comprehending what he had stopped himself from doing. Mulciber headed to the door, "You make nice bait," he scoffed, and was gone.

Alone, Lily began to cry, one thought in her head- she never wanted to see the Order again even if it meant her own death. Mulciber was right. James would be leading the mission doomed to fail.

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure, Wormtail?" James asked, trying to remain calm. He had accepted it. He had accepted that Lily was dead, but this... This was the slightest hope that Lily was still there and that was all he needed.

"Y-yes," Peter replied, "I overheard Macnair talking to Crabbe about it in Knockturn Alley when I was on patrol. Something about Mulciber still keeping his hostage, the red haired..." he looked uncomfortable, "well, you don't need their exact wording. Of course, that isn't necessarily specific," Peter said discouragingly, "so if you think we shouldn't go after the lead, then that's good. Excellent, even."

"Are you kidding, Pete? We're going. Oh, you're golden, mate!" James jumped up, but Dumbledore merely stared at his interlocked fingers.

"James, we don't know if she is still alive." The old man glanced up. "I want you to know what we're doing here. This is an extremely high risk operation." James, who had been making his way to the door, swirled around to face Dumbledore.

"There's been nothing this week that suggests that the Death Eaters are rearing for an attack with us, offensive or defensive. We'd take his place by storm."

"There is no guarantee of that."

"Lily's alive," James all but hissed, because now he couldn't afford to think anything else, "and I'm getting her out of there, with or without your help. So unless you want to lose _two _of your best wands, Dumbledore, direct the Order to strike."

* * *

Lily didn't look up as the door opened this time. He descended the stairs with urgency.

"You," Mulciber growled, "talk. _Now_." She didn't reply, and his hand swung across her cheek, a sharp _slap _ringing through the air. Blood dripped out the corner of her mouth, a result of an earlier cut in her cheek that wouldn't heal properly.

"You being bait isn't enough. We need your headquarters."

"Aw, Voldemort isn't pleased with you, huh? What a shame," she sassed, "I'm not telling you—" With his next slap, Lily spat on his face and was pleased that some of the mixture of blood and saliva hit his eye. He wiped it off in disgust and turned away, and Lily breathed out. Maybe he was finished for the night, accepted her silence. But the next thing she knew, his hand was clamped around her throat and she was gagging.

"Oh, I made a promise not to do this," he snarled, and then squeezed her breast painfully with the hand not enclosed around her neck. Lily cried out in protest. "But that doesn't really matter now, does is?" Mulciber brought both his hand to properly grope her, and after days of captivity, Lily lost it. She gasped, fear coursing through her veins and tears streaming down her face. She knew she wasn't going to make it out of this cellar alive, but that didn't make right now, this impeding horror, any more bearable. It was worse, so much more terrible than she could have imagined. She'd never see what was left of her family again, never see the boys again- she hoped Sirius wouldn't feel guilty about this, and that Remus wouldn't bottle it up like all his other hurt, and that it wouldn't add to Peter's fear of being in the Order. Worse than anything and everything else, she'd never see James again... but even if there were a way for her to see his face, his eyes, hair, freckles, his smile one last time in these moments, Lily wouldn't want to. It would only intensify the reality of this hell. Mulciber ripped her shirt open.

"Please," she cried, terrified and violated and sick, "please, not this." He stopped to unlock the cuffs at her wrists, because after all, he knew she couldn't manage a move against him. Lily, starved and beaten and broken, was completely helpless.

"I've been so looking forward to this," Her ankles were now free of their cuffs as well, and though she tried to squirm, do anything, he pulled her down to the cold, stone floor, and stood over her. Lily sobbed. "You've always been a pretty thing for a Mudblood. Maybe not at this moment, though." He knelt down of top of her. She screamed and tried to kick, but his weight alone was enough to keep her pinned. Lily wept, her voice not able to scream any longer. She'd take a thousand duels with Voldemort, a thousand separate deaths, over this.

"Just think of your fiancé right now." Mulciber scraped his fingers over her skin as one hand held down her neck. "He's probably worried sick. Maybe he even thinks you're dead. Or worse yet," his voice was a heinous growling, "worse yet is that dear old Potter knows exactly what I'm doing right _now_." And he pushed her skirt up.

There was banging at the door. "Mulciber!" cried a raspy voice. "Mulciber, up here now!"

He stopped, hands at his still zipped fly. "Not now, Goyle," he called.

"The Dark Lord is here," Goyle yelled through the door, "so I would suggest you come immediately. He's called a meeting."

The look of fury on Mulciber's face exceeded all the anger he had displayed since Lily had been here, but he stood up nonetheless. "I will be there momentarily," he yelled to Goyle, but to Lily he bent by her ear and growled, "I'll finish you later." He kicked her in the ribs and then was gone.

With Lily's last remaining bit of consciousness, she realized she was happy in Voldemort's arrival. What wonderful timing.

* * *

As soon as Dumbledore had sent the signal, members began to roll in full force. There weren't many occasions where the Order of the Phoenix was able to assemble on call at full attendance due to the delicate balance many of the older members or members with family had to establish. Calling off work, disappearing for hours, and reappearing with possible injuries would cause suspicion of involvement in either the Order or the Death Eaters, neither of which resulted in any good. But this time, Elphias Doge and Edgar Bones took off work, and Fenwick and Vance and Podmore as well. Frank and Alice Longbottom arrived with paint stains on their hands, having come directly from renovating their new house. Hagrid managed to Floo from the school, and the Prewett brothers came immediately over from a dinner with the extended family. As the rest of the Order walked into headquarters, either buzzing with pre-mission excitement or anxiety, James noticed Marlene McKinnon lugging a travel bag and heading to the hallway.

"McKinnon!" The witch turned, noticed who called her, and kept walking. James pushed through the crowded room to catch up to her and followed her into the hallway. Not bothering to slow her pace or turn around, Marlene addressed James.

"I'm not going on the mission," the Healer started, her tone brusque, "I've got my own work here. And I don't have time for your protesting, Potter, because I have to set up. I've taken the liberty of borrowing some equipment from Mungo's." And suddenly the large bag over her shoulder made sense to James.

"Please tell me you didn't—"

"I did," she said, and turned into the room at the edge of the way. "And I told you not to protest. I only took what I know the Order wouldn't have and what Lily won't be able to manage without. There's no way she can stay in the infirmary at Mungo's, so we'll make due here." Now Marlene turned and looked at James, her gaze bracing. Since James met Marlene McKinnon, he'd admired her professionalism that hid one of the kindest witches he knew. She and Lily made quick friends, despite the ten year age difference. When Marlene looked at him now, her eyes were wide with the concern for her friend, but her tone that of a Healer delivering bad news. "Listen to me, James. Get in, get Lily out, and come straight back here. No distractions, no duels for honor, nothing. Every minute wasted now that we're so close is foolish. Are you ready?"

"What kind of a—"

"Ready to see the physical damage, the emotional turmoil, and repercussions that have yet to come from this? No. You want your Lily back but she won't come back your Lily. Not immediately. So get ready, and go, but get her straight back to me," she finished. He looked at her a moment longer before he moved, enough time for her face to spread into a small smile. "Go get Lily and come back because I'm tired of seeing you all depressed and angry." She kissed him on the cheek and sent him out the door.

"Wait-" James paused in the threshold, hand rubbing the back of his neck. Marlene raised her eyebrows. "Thank you," James told her sincerely, nodding towards the duffel bag. "You have no idea how much this means to me- and to Lily."

"_Go_," Marlene pushed him out into the hallway, and this time James abliged. Had James lingered a moment longer, he would have seen her steady composure break at the very real possibility that she would be able to do nothing to help Lily, despite her best efforts. The thought that Lily, and inevitably James, was lost was simultaneously too real and too absurd to conceive.

Marlene sighed and opened the bag of stolen equipment. Whatever happened, it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sirius rolled up his sleeves, unsheathing his wand from his pocket and then rotating his shoulders. Beside him, James stared straight ahead, through the brush and toward the house.

"She's in there," he muttered.

"It's almost over, mate," Sirius assured him, "almost done." James nodded, restless now to initiate whatever combat would soon be necessary. "Wait for the signal, Prongs," Sirius warned, eyeing James suspiciously.

"What the hell is the hold up?" James puffed, looking now across the way to where other Order members should be in position. Knowing what to look for, he spotted Caradoc Dearborn in the brush. The wizard held up his fist.

"Signal to hold," muttered Sirius as Dearborn now held up one finger and swiped it.

"We're missing one person," James realized. "I don't care. I'm going—"

"Hold your hippogriffs, Potter, unless you want us all killed," growled a voice. Startled, James turned to see Mad-Eye moving quietly towards them. "Dearborn's holding for me," he continued, his eerie blue eye rolling round his head at top speed. "Dumbledore needed a word. But go ahead and— _bastards_." Moody's good eye darkened. James and Sirius only had time to exchange a panicked look before Moody was yelling, "Everyone move!" and a shower of sparks fell onto the ground from above.

"It's a trap," Sirius called out needlessly, running out into the courtyard where figures in masks poured into from the house. Before James could follow, Mad-Eye tugged at his arm.

"Get into the house anyway you can," he told him, shouting above the sounds of battle, "and as soon as you've got Evans, send your Patronus as signal and we cut out, got it?"

He nodded. "Can you see—" But Mad-Eye was already gone, right to the heart of the fight.

James followed, his mind, heart, and body racing like it never had before. The wand in his hand felt heavy, charged, angry and anxious. He was ready.

* * *

"Shit," Frank muttered, grunting in pain as he leaned against the column. He gripped his forearm, trying to stopper the blood that flowed freely from a gash at the crook of his elbow. James was bent in half next to him, trying to regain any sort of steady breathing. A masked Death Eater had landed a well placed Cruciatus on James moments before Frank Longbottom appeared from nowhere to throw the Death Eater's concentration off James. In return, he received the peculair cut on his wand arm. The curse seemed familiar to James, but he couldn't think of how he recognized that specific bit of Dark Magic. There were other priorities on his mind, such as running to the nearest bit of shelter available, which just happened to be a marble column near the house. There was clear spell damage to the foundation of the massive column. "_Shit_," Frank repeated as bits of rock shook loose from the marble. "This place isn't going to make it," the auror nodded to the house. "It's taking a heavy toll from all sides."

James stood straight, groaning as his torso pulled from the muscle knot it had gotten into. "I've got to get in now." The column gave off more rocks. James picked one up, transfiguring it into a peice of cloth. "Here," he said, taking Frank's arm and bracing the band of fabric taught. "You may want stand back a bit," James told Frank, and yelled, "Reducto!" The manor's outer wall began to crumble.

"Reducto!" Came another voice, the wall breaking away a bit more. James and Frank turned to see Emmeline Vance running toward them.

"Emmeline," James acknowledged. She seemed relatively unscathed, save for her slightly singed and smoking hair. Emmeline steadied her footing, taking a more firm stance next to James. "Sirius saw you run over here, but he's busy dueling with who I think was Crabbe. All three of us should be able to break through the stone now, don't you think?"

Frank stood straight, positioning his feet. "I'll worry about my arm's longevity later," he said, then positioned his wand.

"_Reducto!" _As the last of the rubble settled in the blast, James had his entrance into the house.

"I'm going find Alice," Frank yelled as he headed back into the main fight, and soon his form vanished in the haze. James and Emmeline climbed in through the hole.

"Any ideas?" Emmeline asked James, holding her wand at the ready. James shook his head. The manor, however, was mercifully empty. The Death Eaters had never planned for any Order member to make it inside.

"Lily? Lily!" James called, but he got no answer. He quenched the bit of true panic rising in his gut. "Alright," he said, "alright, look for any room any sort where they might be keeping her. Quickly."

_Lily just can't hear you. That's why she didn't answer. _James would believe nothing else.

* * *

Through the kitchen and past shriveled, terrified houseleves was a metal door with a bolt lock.

"_Lily_!" James called. No answer. He pointed his wand at the lock, and kicked down the now bent metal. The door was open in a matter of seconds, heavy metal ringing as it hit the wall, a result of the massive force of James pushing through. Without a word, James descended the stairs and ran to the body on the floor. She didn't stir.

"Lily," he touched her cheek and felt only shallow, infrequent breathing. She was filthy, covered in grime and dirt and blood. Tear streaks, now dry, cleared a small path of skin on her cheek, and James nearly passed out. Her shirt was in shreds, her purple skirt no better off. There was bruising all over, from her arms to torso to neck and her thighs. He carefully scooped her up, dead weight in his arms, but even still he could tell that she had lost far too much weight here. James positioned her head safely near the crook of his arm before turning around, back to the stairs where Remus now stood waiting.

"Is she-"

"I'm taking her out of here," James cut him off, taking the flight of stairs two at a time, "and Merlin help whoever stands in my way." Moony nodded in response, staring at Lily with an expression that moved from utter horror to stone cold in a matter of seconds. He looked back at James and nodded his head curtly to the left.

"We have the back door and beyond cleared temporarily, but _run_, James." Remus took off, back to the front courtyard and into the fray of battle. After making his way out the back door to his left, James found the rose garden to be echoing with sounds and shouts but blissfully empty. He prayed that no one— Order or Death Eater— had reestablished the Apparition boundary. Turning around, he pointed his wand into the house, muttering a clear _Expecto Patronum. _His stag stood in front of him. "Through the house, and into the battle," James instructed, "you're the all clear symbol."

The stag bounded away.

With one last glare at the Mulciber Mansion, James spun on his heel, and with a resounding _pop_, he and Lily disappeared.


	4. A Room

"Here," Mad-Eye placed a wand on the bedside table— Lily's, which James had assumed had been lost and broken for good. "When I disarmed Mulciber, this flew at me as well. Her wand must've realized it was free from its captor because it sent sparks flying all over the goddamned place. Always did warn wizards not to keep wands in their pants pockets."

"Thank you," James muttered, not truly looking at Mad-Eye or the recovered wand. He heard footsteps retreating towards the door and returned to his solitary vigil, picking up her cold, clammy hand and lacing his fingers through hers as he brought it up to his lips and held it there.

"She's a good girl," Moody grumbled, startling James. Mad-Eye was trying his best to look sympathetic, but his leathered skin and glass eye gave the whole look a comical effect. He continued, "She'll pull through good as new, sass and all." With what James recognized to be a sad smile, Mad-Eye left the room.

* * *

He was asleep when she woke up. He hadn't meant to be— had wanted to stay awake for the both of them— but even James couldn't fight his exhaustion. So Lily rose back into consciousness to greet the quiet around her. She, for her part, hadn't wanted to be awake— to face another day— but something was different. The air around her was soft and light, and she was lying in a bed with blankets rather than the iron chair she had known. Best yet, the realization that she wasn't alone was a sign of joy rather than terror. There was a hand clasped around her own, and as Lily's eyes traced the path of the freckled arm all the way back to the face of its owner, she felt them water involuntarily. _James. _He was asleep, yes, but there and beautiful and everything she had been afraid of losing. The best she could mutter was a simple, "James?"

His eyes flew open, hazel immediately latching onto her emerald set. It'd be a lie to say there were no tears in his gaze to match hers as he moved closer to the bed, touching his forehead to hers as he breathed out, "Lily." There was nothing she could do but silently sob as he stroked her hair and whispered reassurances. "It's okay Lily, you're safe. You're safe and at headquarters and everything's going to be okay. We're together."

"I missed you so much," was her response, reaching a sore arm out to touch his cheek. "I'm so sorry, James, you have no idea. It was stupid. I shouldn't have even been caught—"

"Lily," James cut her off, not unkindly, "stop that. It's no one's fault but the bastard who took you." His thumb made soothing circles near her temple. "I was losing my mind without you," he admitted.

"Me too. Never again. We can't lose each other again." James sat up straight but kept that hand that was stroking her hair in its place.

"You're right. We'll talk to Dumbledore. I don't care that you were at least with Sirius. From here on out it's the two of us together on missions, or no field work for us at all." James had clearly been mulling this idea over in his head as he looked to her for approval so Lily simply nodded her head. It was fair enough. She honestly couldn't imagine how she would have reacted had their roles been reversed and James had been the one missing. She stared at her fiancé, trying to will away the bags beneath his eyes and the frown lines near his mouth (because, Merlin, he shouldn't have those. The boy had turned nineteen only a month ago) and still felt terrible for everything her folly had put them through— whether or not James would admit it or allow her to admit it, it was Lily's own thrill-seeking that led her into that basement alone. She closed her eyes, pushing her shame down, because she wanted only to enjoy James' presence again. So Lily swallowed, her tears almost stopped now, and asked, "How long was I gone?"

"Six days. You've been here almost two, under various potions and dreamless sleep serums. Your body needed time to recover above all else."

"How?"

"Marlene," came James' response. He understood the unspoken question, of why she wasn't in St. Mungo's, which was the last resort recuperating place for Order members who were severely injured or dying. "She's taken the past few days off of work despite us telling her not to. It's suspicious. She'll be tagged as an Order member, but will she listen? No. But Christ, I'm thankful for her." James gestured to the room at large, and then to the potion IV hanging beside Lily's bedside. "She went all out for you, Evans."

Lily glanced around her surroundings. James was right. She was in a side bedroom in headquarters, and though the Order was always stocked with different medical potions and serums (she helped brew half of them), the vials atop the bedside table contained far more sophisticated brews then the Order was used to, and from what Lily could see, the IV contained a complex array of remedies inside the transparent dragon skin pouch that Marlene must have had to smuggle out. Another twinge of guilt grabbed Lily's stomach. "She shouldn't have done all this." James shrugged, showing that he wasn't displeased at the obvious effort that had gone into Lily's makeshift high tech hospital room.

"You know how McKinnon gets. I should call her, actually. She'd skin me alive if she knew how long you've been awake without bringing her in." And maybe it wasn't the most heartfelt thing to say, or the right response to the return of his once-thought-dead-fiancé, but James smiled wickedly as he stood up and bragged, "I'd like to keep the body I'm in. I rather like it. At least, I know _you _do… quite a lot."

The way things fell back into normalcy, back into the easy teasing and banter that embodied their relationship is what drove Lily to act. "No," she squeezed his hand as he turned to walk away. James glanced at her, confused, but she pressed on. "Don't get Marlene, not yet. Please, just… don't leave me. Come here."

He sighed, but nonetheless climbed into the small bed anyway, because what else could he do but obey? Lily pushed herself up into a sitting position with the pillows as support, and laid her head on James' chest as he settled and wrapped his arms around her. Lily pressed her face into his t-shirt, breathing him in and feeling his heart beat steadily against her ear. "I love you," she told him softly, feeling oddly shy and tiny. It was not a feeling she was accustomed to, but it was not often that she was reduced to nothing and forced to pull herself together again. The Order of the Phoenix had been all Lily hoped for and more, feeding the reckless side of her nature, but last week's kidnapping and captivity made her feel completely vulnerable, another something Lily Evans was not accustomed to.

James found something amusing in the way she squeaked out the words, perhaps because he knew exactly how she felt inside and he understood it was best to stay normal for the both of them at the moment. "I love you, Lily Evans." He picked up her left hand and held it to his lips, kissing the engagement ring on her finger. "Which is good, I suppose. I'm afraid this ring is nonrefundable."

"Good," she smiled genuinely, "because you're not getting it back."

There was an easy silence, interrupted only by the sound of the small fan in the corner of the room. James kept toying with the ring, humming tunelessly as she simply lay there. Lily didn't want to see anyone else. She wanted to stay here, in this moment, with James, and not worry about the pitiful looks she'd get from older members of the Order who still referred to her as a mere girl, or worry about what she'd have to recount to Dumbledore, or anything else. All too soon, James stopped his humming and she knew what conversation they were about to have.

"Odd how they didn't take the ring," he mused casually, but Lily knew him well enough to know when he had ulterior motives. "A stolen Potter heirloom would have been a nice trophy for Mulciber's Gringotts account."

"Figured it be worse for me if I wore it," Lily muttered, not at all up to talking but understanding that she had to. "False hope of seeing you again, and then as a reminder that what they did to me, they did to you."

To his credit, James refrained from immediate anger and didn't leap out the bed (which Lily was grateful for, considering the fact that she was using him as a rather comfortable pillow), but his body tensed beneath her and she practically felt his upset radiating off of him. His eyes were cold as steel as he glared down at the ring, somehow now blaming it. "How much damage will I have the pleasure of repaying back to whatever Death Eater I find next?"

"Oh," mused Lily, trying to feign casualness as James had done before, "quite a bit. There was the Cruciatus, for starters. Some curses were of Mulciber's concoction, I think… at least I didn't recognize their wand movement or effects. Then there were the good old fashioned fear tactics. Ironically, those were Muggle-style." James lifted Lily's chin with a gentle nudge, a tender motion in direct contrast to the hard glint of rage evident in his eyes. She knew he was mentally repaying every single mark on her person unto Mulciber in his mind, but she couldn't draw comfort from that. Lily could only imagine the discoloration and swelling happening on her person, damage James could see and feel himself. His gaze remained stony as he tenderly tucked hair behind her ear and out of the way for his fingers to trail over her neck, tilting her head back for a better angle to see the damage. He breathed out heavily, closed his eyes and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. His silence was discomforting, because until about now Lily had never had to worry about James' reaction. He looked physically pained at each new cut or mark he found, and Lily thought she couldn't stand much more of his examination when then moved on to her arms and wrists. "Mulciber's got huge hands," Lily offered dully to break the silence as she stared at fingerprint bruises near her elbow, then at her bruised wrists, purple bracelets of pain. "And that chair was murder."

James glanced up from the blisters on her wrists. "You think this is bad? Lily, you look terrible right now. Sorry, love, but it's true. The marks on your arm is nothing compared to your neck. If you haven't noticed yet, you have a bruise that looks remarkably like a shoe print poised over two healing ribs. And there are marks the size of Quaffles on your chest."

Lily shook her arm from James' clutch. "What?" she pulled the nightgown's collar away and stared down, realizing that James was right. She was a collage of green, purple, yellow, and pale. She looked back at James, blushing furiously. "How do you know about the bruising on my chest?"

He rolled his eyes. "How do you think? I pulled you from that cellar, Lily. There wasn't much of a shirt left on you. When I got us back here, it was just me and Marlene. I helped her out. Save for the telling bruises, it's not like I've never seen your breasts before, _Merlin_."

"James, listen," he deserved to know, _needed _to know, "he didn't—"

"I know." James cut her off with a curt nod. He didn't want to talk about it as much as she didn't want to recount it. "Like I said, McKinnon gave you whatever examination she saw necessary. But Christ, when I saw you down there…" He closed his eyes. "Dead or alive, I thought the worst had happened to you. We both know what happened with those Muggle women a few weeks back…"

Lily shivered involuntarily, feeling ill. "It's okay, James. I'm okay." He peered down at her through half closed eyes.

"No, you're not," James replied, shaking his head shrewdly. "You're not okay, Lily. You'd be mad if you were." He kissed her temple again. "It's okay you're not okay. I'm not, either. But we'll be okay soon enough, that much I can promise. "

So Lily smiled because there was nothing else to do but listen to James and feel him breathe because he was alive and so was she, and it had never felt so good. She wasn't okay, but back at headquarters and back with James, she'd be okay. They'd both be. Unfortunately the novelty of being conscious wore out and Lily began to fully experience the pain she was in. Without meaning to, she groaned aloud.

"I feel like a giant bruise," she confessed, only half in an effort at conversation and the other half because she knew that it would drive James to help. "Everything hurts and my throat feels like sandpaper whose favorite snack is rock candy."

James eyed Lily in amusement. "You've a way with words," he said dryly, "but it's high time for me to get McKinnon." He slipped out the bed as she made a noise of protest. James rolled his eyes. "Can you do me a favor and pretend you just woke up? I've got to still live through this, remember?"

Lily nodded as James ambled out the door, and though she hadn't wanted him to leave, she was thankful. Whatever drug had been active when she awoke no longer had an effect on the pain. Only a few moments passed before she could hear voices down the hall, accompanied by some very telling thuds.

"You should have," _slap_, "gotten me," _slap_, "as soon as she woke up! The very minute!" _slap_. "I should never have put you in charge of getting me."

"She only just—"

"Spare your lies, Potter," but by now Marlene McKinnon and James had crossed into the threshold and McKinnon locked her gaze unto Lily. She grinned guiltily at the older woman and shifted her eyes to James, who rubbed the spot the Healer targeted on his arm with a pout.

"Knew it," McKinnon grumbled, walking forward to grab the information chart from Lily's bedside table. Lily opened her mouth, and Marlene didn't even have to glance up to say, "Don't you speak, Evans. You've managed to tear up your throat pretty badly already." The Healer moved to the potion connected to Lily's arm, mumbling incoherently as she pulled a vial out her robe and dropped three doses of clear liquid in, changing the deep blue to a swirling purple. Satisfied, she turned back to Lily and examined her bruising as James had just done, though more out of professionalism rather than curiosity and worry. The brusque attitude Marlene used as her official-Healer persona melted away as she looked at Lily once more. She tutted. "I know you hurt like the devil right now, but it'll pass, love. You're tougher than dragon eggs for going through this, you know that right?" Lily obediently did not say anything in reply and only looked down. Marlene went on. "Now we've had you on some draughts, so until some of the swelling goes down in your throat and face it's best to keep those up. You know what vials they're in; you brewed this batch only last week. We have two options for the bruising, but I suggest that a salve—"

"Do excuse me, Miss McKinnon," came a quiet voice from the hallway. James practically jumped from his position against the door frame, surprised by Dumbledore's sudden appearance. The old professor smiled kindly into the room as he continued, "I'm afraid I need to speak to Lily. James," he nodded at the man in question, "you may stay, of course."

Marlene looked more than hesitant to leave.

"Surely it can wait, Dumbledore, she's only just woken up…"

"I wouldn't interrupt if it weren't important," Dumbledore said in turn, stepping into the makeshift care unit. Marlene eyed him for a moment before sighing and walking out the room, sparing a worried glance at Lily and then James, neither of whom looked back at her. With a quick swish of her robe, Marlene was gone.

Lily toyed with a section of sheets with her fingers while James stared coolly at Dumbledore, still partially blaming the old headmaster for the whole ordeal, but curious enough to hear whatever was so important he interrupted McKinnon that he stayed where he was. True to his nature, Dumbledore ignored the obvious heaviness in the air and merely perused pleasantly through the same charts Marlene had fretted over. He must have understood the complex graphs, however, for he smiled once more at Lily and said, "You're healing extremely well." He put the charts down and pulled the chair in the corner and sat down. The door clicked shut on it's own as he folded his fingers across his lap and looked at Lily and James, both of whom did not understand what was happening.

"Lily, my dear, I pray you understand how lucky you are to be amongst us once more."

James scoffed. "Lucky, is that what you call this, Dumbledore? She was half dead in that cellar, and all because of you."

"James," Lily let out, a bit shocked at her fiancé.

"Please," Dumbledore said quietly, "explain."

"You should never have split us up for that godforsaken mission. We should have been allowed to be partners from the start."

"And that would have prevented this?"

"It would have never happened if-"

"If you had partnered with Lily instead of your best friend? From this logic, James, your blame would rest on Sirius' shoulders. But even that is faulty and I think you know that." An suddenly it was as if the bedside table were his desk, and Dumbledore sat in his Headmaster's seat, reprimanding James in his cool manner. Dumbledore must have sensed that, for he sighed and rubbed his half-moon spectacles with his cloak. "We should not bicker, especially when there is so much now to be happy about." He smiled warmly at Lily before focusing back at James. "However, I understand your frustrations at me. You and Lily are free to work as partners at your own discretion. However, that is not what I came here to discuss. I must ask, Lily, for you to remember, though I know how much you wish to forget. When Mulciber- whom, by the way, we should rightly give blame and extend to Voldemort- took you, was he waiting for your arrival? Or did you simply walk in on him?"

"I was a blonde, under Polyjuice Potion..." Lily said, brow furrowing. "He hit me from behind, with something hard... And when I came to, he didn't realize who I was until after I transformed back. He must not have known. But why would he have been waiting for me?"

Dumbledore did not reply. "And when you were at Mulciber's estate, were you able to pick up any sort of conversation or detail about the Order's efforts to rescue you?"

Lily kept her gaze on her fingers, still playing with the sheets. "Mulciber told me I was bait. The mission was supposed to fail."

Dumbledore remained silent, head tilted as he processed what Lily told him.

James shifted uncomfortably. "What's the meaning behind all this?"

"Nothing of importance," Dumbledore replied, now standing. "I apologize for bothering you both. You've been through enough trouble for now." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a box of Sugar Quills and placing it on the table beside Lily, who gasped and beamed back at Dumbledore, meeting his twinkling blue eyes. "I remember your Head Girl days. I couldn't keep enough of these in stock in my office."

"Oh," she croaked, "thank you, Professor."

"Just rest, Miss Evans. We've all missed you dearly."

Before Dumbledore left the room, James spoke up. "Thank you, Professor. And... Sorry for earlier."

"Love gets in the way of logic, sometimes. Happens to the best of us." And with a nod of his head, Dumbledore was gone.

* * *

Seeing the boys the next day was an occasion marked by Butterbeer and left over fruit tarts from dinner. James sat near her bed, his only place of occupancy for the past three days, as the other three boys sat in chairs borrowed from the kitchen.

"Well, look who decided to wake up! Enjoy your nap, princess?" Sirius sauntered into the room, a smirk on his face as he sat in his chair (improperly). He cocked an eyebrow at Lily and his smile grew wider. "Though I must say, I had assumed all that rest was supposed to be beauty sleep. You look terrible."

"Hardy har," Lily drawled in reply, but after her initial eye roll, her face split into a smile. "I still look a damn sight better than you do."

Remus laughed as he set down his barstool. "I missed that. He was out of control without you, Lily. It's great to see you. Well, alive, you know. I don't really count when James carried you from the cellar." Remus had meant it as a light jab at the gravity of what had happened, but James' mind reeled back the hours he spent convinced that they were too late. He looked away from the crowd in the room and stared at the wall, unnoticed as the others talked.

"You didn't miss much," Pete informed Lily with an entire tart in his mouth. "Few giant raids but nothing special." Lily's eyes grew wide.

"A few? Merlin, how did things go? Survivors? Oh, and all those memory charms to perform, did you manage to-"

"Take your knickers out their twist, Evans," Sirius rolled his eyes. "We managed fine without your prowess. You didn't fake-date a moron here. And your real fiancé's not a complete nitwit."

James forced himself back into the conversation, feeling Lily's attention flit back to him. After registering what Sirius had spoken, James' head cleared a bit. "Which," he announced, "reminds me of something..." James stood up to walk across the room and unceremoniously grab the chair from underneath Sirius, causing him to fall onto the the floor in a heap of limbs as a surprised yelp escaped from his mouth. James grinned broadly at the ground as Sirius glared up. "You," James declared haughtily, "are to stay away from my fiancé. And retract what you said about me being domineering. I'm not domineering!" To answer, Sirius shot an amused look to Remus and then looked back at James.

"Not domineering?"

"Of course I'm not."

"Not in the least?" James shook his head no. "Lily," Sirius called from the floor, not even looking at her, "Charms corridor. Sixth year." James' head reeled to look back at Lily, whose cheeks sported the familiar red blush. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What is he on about?" But apparently Remus understood, because he seemed it necessary to chime in with another tidbit of information.

"Fifth year rounds. Christmas."

"Sixth year," Peter stated, smiling widely at Lily, who gave a horrified yelp and covered her face in her hands, and then at James' half bewildered, half brassed expression. "First Hogsmeade trip of the year."

"Lily?" James sputtered. She shook her head in her hands, merely muttering a mortified, "I cannot believe this. I'm not answering."

Sirius stood up, brushing the dust off himself with dignity and then snatching his chair from James' hold. "Marcus Shelby," he said, and triumphantly sat back down on his stool.

"_Oh," _James crossed his arms, understanding what was happening as Remus added his name- "Holten Daniels."

"Wait, who was mine?" Peter scratched his head, "Shit, I forgot."

"Well, it doesn't matter," James huffed out as he took a seat on the bed next to Lily. She glanced up at him, eyeing him nervously. He held up his head. "I'm confident enough in our relationship to acknowledge that Lily had very chaste relationships with very unfortunate looking blokes a long, long time ago and that I surpass them all. See? Not domineering." He put his arm around Lily, careful not to put any weight into it, as she rolled her eyes and leaned into him contently.

"You're overly confident in this relationship," she kissed his cheek, "but of course, I only had extremely chaste relationships with extremely unfortunate looking blokes." James smiled smugly in response at the other boys in turn. Sirius' eyebrows rose up and Remus chuckled, but Peter remained in deep thought. Sirius sighed.

"Fine, Prongs," he lifted his hands in mock defeat. "I hereby retract any fowl-"

"Roger Pond!" Peter exclaimed, loudly interrupting Sirius as he beamed in triumph. "And there wasn't much chaste in what I heard him tell the Ravenclaws the next day."

Lily moaned as James stiffened next to her. "Thanks, Pete. I appreciate that."

"You snogged that prat?" His nose crinkled in disgust and he undraped his arm from around Lily so that he could cross them in front his chest. "He was a year older than us, and a complete ponce!"

"Ah, yes," Remus nodded, "here comes it comes."

James continued to grumble under his breath.

"James," Lily said sternly, "Roger was a nice bloke. It was only one date, anyway. No, don't get up!" She held onto his arm as he shifted to stand, and James looked at her as she shook her head. "Don't get up. You're a nice pillow and I'm too comfortable now to be disturbed."

Some of the annoyance melted from James' expression, but he still deemed it necessary to ask, "A nicer pillow than Roger Pond?"

"Much nicer. And far more fit." She lifted his arm and tucked herself into his side, yawning out, "Good pillow," before closing her eyes with a smile. James' hand absentmindedly stroked her back.

Remus stood up. "I should get going. Dumbledore wanted to speak with me before I leave." He met Lily's eyes as she opened them again. "Welcome back, Lily, and do us a favor- never again."

"I'll do my best, Moony," she promised. Peter too now stood.

"I told Mum I'd be home tonight, so I'll have to leave as well. Coming, Padfoot?"

"Not yet," Sirius waved him off. "I'll stick around." With a shrug, Peter was gone and Sirius put his head in his hands, defeated. When he lifted his gaze a few moments later and saw both Lily and James looking back at him as one. He focused his sight on Lily, on her emerald eyes surrounded by the purple and yellow swellings of bruises. Bruises she got from a week in a cellar, tortured to the brink of death. Bruises that were his fault because he wasn't there. "Merlin, Lily," Sirius started, "I'm so fucking sorry. I should have been more careful, I should have realized-" But Lily cut him off with a shake of her head.

"Don't think that, Sirius. We were on mission. It's not your fault. Something like this would have happened eventually."

Sirius wasn't happy with that response, and he could tell James wasn't either by the way his eyes stared past Sirius and onto the wall behind him. But there was no arguing with Lily because she yawned and closed her eyes once more. Sirius sighed. "Whatever you say, Lily. I'll leave you two now," he said, making his way to the door. As he left, he spared another look at the couple, at his brother now reaching for her vial of potion and at his sister completely allowing herself to be weak in his arms. Their wedding so near, and everything could have been lost. All Sirius knew was that the next time he had to, he would do everything in his power to save those two people lying on that tiny bed together.

"Thank you," Lily told James as be handed her the sleeping draught. "I wish I didn't have to sleep all the time."

"A small sacrifice," he replied, still hearing her say _something like this would have happened eventually_ play over in his head. She burrowed her face into his arm as she felt the potion start to go into her system.

"What're you thinking right now?'

"I'm entertaining the idea of Transfiguring Roger Pond into an actual pillow, actually." It was so easy to hide his real thoughts from Lily the further she slipped into unconsciousness.

"I love you," she mumbled as she fell asleep. He kissed her temple.

"I love you too, you loon," he knew was already asleep. "I love you so much."

He holds onto her, knowing that avoiding the issue plaguing his mind would lead to no good, would not make that conversation any easier. But it's disgustingly easy to simply be here, to feel her breathe, and to breathe in time with her. So James pushes those thoughts back, dreading the time when he has to face them.


	5. A Home, Almost

Six days after her return, and Lily was glowing once more. The bruising disappeared, leaving no trace of the damage done to her physically. Her throat no longer felt the agony of prolonged conversation, and she had gained back a fair amount of the weight she had lost. The complete liveliness had returned to her eyes, her smile, her demeanor, and it was infectious. Gradually, Lily floated out of the small corner room and took back her strength by being with others, just as she's always done.

So the Order decided to do something they hadn't done before, which was simply to relax. Benjy Fenwick called in a favor with Madame Rosemerta (though, no matter how many times Sirius asked, Benjy would not reveal any details) and had the Three Broomsticks stay open for extra hours, Order only. Hagrid broke two stools and apologized furiously for both, Elphias Doge refused to remove his hat, and the Prewett twins seemed to have a bet on whether they could frustrate Emmeline or Marlene the most, but even Mad-Eye had showed up to have a few (from his own flask, of course).

No one mentioned that two of the Parkinson children had gone missing, or the rumors the vials of mud being sold in Knockturn Alley were mixtures of real blood from Muggleborns and dirt, or that the only reason they'd never done this before was because they had always been too late.

It was well past one by the time the Alice carried away a very intoxicated Frank, saying something about having to get up early for brunch with his mother. Lily laughed, waving the couple goodbye, and moved over to where James sat with the other three boys at a booth talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Auror Mad-Eye had been trying to recruit for the Order. When Lily took her seat next to James, she was not surprised to witness them attempt to convince Kingsley to use a color swap charm on Moody's magic eye every day at the Auror office until he noticed.

"As entertaining as that sounds," Kingsely took another sip of his Butterbeer, "I'd like to keep both my job and my wand hand."

"It would never work!" Moody called from across the bar, downing a shot of Firewhiskey with Benjy and Emmeline. "The damn thing's got a Sheild Charm on it, you nitwits."

"Ah, Mad-Eye, you're no fun," Sirius muttered.

"Fun gets you killed," came the retort.

"We could make that a drinking game," Remus observed. "Take a shot for everything we could list that Moody says will kill us."

"I think we'd all lose at the start, being associated with the Order," Kingsely said with a shrug.

"Bonus shot for being Muggleborn," Lily said.

"Blood traitors!" James and Sirius high-fived.

Even Peter laughed when Remus shrugged, motioning his thumb towards himself, and said, "Lycanthropy."

"None of this is really a laughing matter," Kingsley mused.

"Which," James replied, "is exactly why we laugh."

There was a lull in which Sirius swirled his drink absentmindedly, and Remus stifled a yawn, and Peter stated at the floor, hiccuping slightly. Kingsley watched James and Lily, who despite sitting in the crowded booth, seemed to be their own entity all together as he sat with his arm draped across her shoulders and she leaned into him. Some people were just like that, he guessed. He stood, making some excuse about taking in early hours at the Office, leaving because he felt invasive sitting with that group of five. Sirius broke the silence after Kingsley left.

"The night's still young. How about we crash some Muggle pubs? Those are my favorite."

"I'm in," Peter spoke, perking up. Remus shrugged, but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

"Not tonight, Padfoot," James told him. Lily smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Sirius." She stood, tugging James' arm up. "But it's late."

"Now _you're _no fun," Sirius muttered, trying to hide his disappointment. It was understood the plans were off without James. "I may go visit my cousin Andromeda tomorrow," Sirius said as they walked away. "A kindered soul to my own, being a Black outcast. She's got a kid, I think. Do you want to come? Moony?"

Stepping outside, High Street looked just as it had last year at this time, despite everything that had changed about the two people strolling down that path, despite everything that had changed for the worse in the Wizarding community. James eyed Lily, smiling a bit at her blushed face, finally full of color again. Her eyes danced with the evening, brighter still after drinking and laughing with everyone. "You feel up to Apparating by yourself?"

"Hm," Lily mused, but then lunched for his arm and intertwined her own with his. "I think I'll let you take the lead here."

"The question was more of a formality, to be honest," he confessed as they walked farther down the road to a good Apparation spot. He stopped, holding onto her hand with a firm grip. "Ready?"

"Don't take me home," Lily whispered, almost panicked. Her gaze flickered up to his. "I don't want to be alone." James turned so they faced each other for a moment before he reached his free hand out and lifted her chin. Lily, a mere moment ago so happy, had tears in her eyes.

"Hey," James mumbled and he pulled her into a hug, one hand in her hair and the other on the small of her back, soothing. "It's okay, Lily. I'm not leaving you alone. You don't have to do anything until you're ready." She nodded in his embrace, then stepped back a little, signaling that she was prepared to Apparate. James took her hand once more. "To my flat?"

"Is it clean?"

"Beggars cannot be choosers, my dear Lily," James replied haughtily, and she laughed before he turned on his heel, and both were sent spiraling in the vortex. Gasping, Lily and James stood in the alleyway behind James' flat. Wand out but concealed, James led Lily up to his flat.

Lily loved James' place. While it wasn't a dump, his flat wasn't anything the Potter line would necessarily proclaim as their own. Lily loved his flat for all the days (and nights) she spent here, for the times the other boys dropped by, for the eye rolls she'd inevitably have at its lack of cleanliness, and for the safety she felt in something that became so intrinsically James. Lily would never outright admit it to James, but she'd miss the dingy one bedroom flat when they moved into Godric's Hallow in only a few weeks.

James stopped at the door and mumbled a hasty_ homenum revelio. _Satisfied that there was no one inside, James unlocked the door and nudged Lily inside. She gasped.

"It's clean!" She squealed, and he laughed, shaking his head at her shock.

"I've my occasional uses, you know. Figured you'd like it." She blinked, looking towards the state of the kitchen area.

"When did you even do this?" Lily asked, looking at James. He'd been with her at almost every moment since she woke up, leaving very little opportunity for him to have gone home to do a little bit of tidying up. Silly and insignificant as it was to cry over a clean flat, she could feel her eyes tear up. She kept her back to James, not wanting him to see her cry again— Merlin knew he had a lot of that this week. Lily couldn't help it this time, though. James was too good, much too good. She could practically hear him shrug and feel his little smile directed at her.

"Yesterday when I went out for more clothes for you. I knew we'd be here, so I figured…" Turning, Lily saw him gesture at the room at large. "I did okay?"

"You're fantastic," she told him, walking back over to kiss him.

"Ah," James mumbled, "if I had known there was incentive…" She laughed as they broke apart.

"Well," Lily started coyly, "did you clean the bedroom?"

"Why clean something that'll only be defiled?"

"Good point."

Lily walked opposite the small kitchen and into James' room, which to his credit didn't look as terrible as it had in the past. Unfolded clothes littered the floor alongside various knickknacks James possessed. She sighed, then plopped down onto the bed facedown, grabbing her favorite pillow and putting ijjt over her head. "I'm glad I'm alive for this pillow. I wouldn't want anything to happen and have it not know." A joke, of course, but it triggered what James had been avoiding sense the start of this all.

"Lily?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?" He sounded conflicted, which was odd for a James. Lily tried to remain calm.

"Mhm," she mumbled.

"Are we doing the right thing?"

Lily looked up, head tilted in confusion. He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame and crossing his arms. James shrugged, sighed, and looked at her with new determination in his eyes. He repeated himself.

"Are we doing the right thing?" asked James again, meeting Lily's gaze. She blinked, and he continued. "Fighting? Risking it all like this?"  
"I don't get what you're saying." she replied quietly, fully pulling herself up from the bed. The dim lamplight of the room cast a shadow over his face that lifted only slightly the closer she moved to him. "Joining the Order... It's what we both wanted. Hell, neither of us have actual jobs, James. This is all we know, fighting Voldemort. So..." she continued, "yes. We're doing the right thing." Lily's hand lifted to stroke through James' hair, but he caught her wrist and took a shuttering breath.

"No, that's not what I meant." He took another shaky breath. "Lily, I know the risks of being here. I knew the risks back when Dumbledore invited us in. What I'm _saying,"_ James dropped his gaze from Lily's and concentrated on the half-moon visible from the bedroom window. "What I'm saying is what's going to happen when we finally run out of luck? What's going to happen to me if... if you die." James put his head in his hands and pulled at his hair. "I thought you did, you know. There was nothing I could do but look and wait and it drove me fucking _insane_." he whispered. "I thought this was it. I thought you... I didn't know what I was going to do." Lily realized there were tears in her eyes and she wrapped James' arms around herself so that she could hold on to him, that she was alive and still his (and he was hers). His hands automatically moved to stroke her hair as she tucked her head beneath his chin.

"If I die, and you live," she whispered, "life would go on." She hated these thoughts. She hated having to consider the future, because it was one of the only things she could never properly be certain of. "You'd have the boys, and you'd find another girl to keep you lot in line. Maybe not at first, but you'd be alright." Tears had begun to fall down her cheeks in a steady flow, and James made a noise of protest. She pressed on. "Do you know I think the same thing?" Lily whispered into his chest. "What's going to happen to me if you die? The amount of shit we get out of… If you died, I'd be lost. It's not like I have a family to go back to, James, I'd have _nothing_." They locked eyes, and James shook his head as her reached down to Lily's left hand to turn the engagement ring around her finger.

It was now his turn. "No. Here's one of the few cases where you're dead wrong, Lily. There's no one else for me out there, and there never has been. Life wouldn't go on for me… But, if I die, and you lived, it would. I would _want_ you to keep living. You'd have the boys, and you'd find another bloke who'll fall in love with you. It's not hard to do, you know," he smiled sadly, "to fall in love with you... Maybe not at first, but you'd be alright." James closed his eyes. "I'd want you to be happy again."

"No." Lily had pulled her hands away from his and grabbed his shirt collar. "No," she repeated. "do you realize that's impossible? I _can't,_ James. There's no one I want to be with, and no one I would rather die with. I couldn't go on without you."

"Do you hear yourself?" James sounded almost angry. "You're upset at me for asking the same thing you asked of me. Lily, I can't go on without you, and if you think that's remotely possible, then you don't understand how much I need you. _You_ are my life. And I'm not living without you."

"And I'm not living without _you_." Lily replied, looking back at James with a hard look. "But we're going to keep fighting. We aren't running away from this war."

"Then it's decided."

"What is?"

"If neither of us is living without the other," stated James simply, "then we won't. We'll both survive this war. We're not going to die. When this is over, we'll start a family. A big one— do you know how lonely it was being an only child? We're going to have a huge family and we'll buy a house with room to grow, and an orchard in the back for Quidditch" James was smiling, his childlike grin radiating. "The lads will be over all the time, and you'll yell at us for being bad influences on our kids but you'll really just be amused. _Merlin_," James was positively giddy. "Merlin, we're gonna have little gingers running about, poor bespectacled blighters. Kids, ours." Lily let a laugh escape her as James enfolded her in a hug that lifted her off the ground and spun her around. "We'll be the best parents _ever," _he finished, "After the war."

"We're nineteen, James!" Lily couldn't believe the amount of happiness etched into James' face at the mere thought of a family. "That's a tall order for a couple of kids ourselves. We're engaged, yes, but that... That's a lot to take in."

"You don't like it?"

"No, James. I love it." His giddy grin had made its way onto her face. "After the war."

"Killing Voldemort has never been more of a priority." James pulled Lily closer to him and started to kiss her neck.

"After the war." she whispered, feeling James make his way to her ear and shivering with anticipation. "I meant to tell you-" more kisses on the neck, just reaching that spot that drove her mad- "that Sirius found us out."

"Hmm?" James hummed into her shoulder, distracted as he slowly, tauntingly, allowed his hands to creep below her shirt.

"Sirius," Lily found it hard to concentrate, "said something about how it's no secret that we- what was it? Ah, yes, we 'shag like monkeys' after missions."

He chuckled throatily at that bit of news. "That just means," he was lifting Lily's shirt up at an agonizingly slow pace and letting his fingers brush softly over her skin and his lips found her ear again, "that we have a standard to uphold."

And with that, Lily's shirt was on the floor in seconds as their lips crashed together, reunited after the hardest week of both of their lives. Lily wasted no time as her fingers moved to the buttons of James' shirt, not pausing in the kiss to drape it off his shoulders. Her hands were all over his chest, leaving traces of goose bumps in their path, and his were making their way down until they gripped her tighter against his body, heat radiating between the two.

"Too much clothing," Lily said into his mouth and she could feel how much she needed him. "If we don't get to that bed right now I swear, James..."

James' enthusiasm to do just what his fiancé wanted sent them crashing down as Lily reached and unceremoniously tugged James' trousers.

"Fuck, Lily." He smirked down at her, taking in the way her hair splayed across her face and the slightly glossed look her eyes had.

"James," she hissed warningly, "nothing funny. Need you _now._"

His smirk grew wider. "Ah, but since when have I been one to listen to you?" he wondered aloud, now grabbing Lily's wrists as she reached to remove his boxers. Pinning her arms above her head, James placed kisses along her stomach, relishing the moans he was eliciting from her until his mouth reached the top of the skirt she was still wearing. His teeth pulled at the elastic.

"Ja-_ames,_" Lily could only breath out.

And James, finally losing all self-control, released Lily's captive arms and all remaining clothing was torn off their bodies.

They were a lovely couple, the red head woman and dark haired man, she tracing circles on his chest and he running his fingers through her tousled hair. They were the sort of couple that everyone noticed, charming and attractive, making old people wish they were young again and young people envious of the clear magic of their relationship. And this charming couple wouldn't live without each other and would survive this war and have a family of their own and would be great parents. After the war.

At least, they had every intention of doing so.

In Godric's Hollow stands a statue of a charming couple holding a baby. The man's face is too round to be James', and the woman's eyes too dull to be Lily's, but that isn't the point. The statue immortalizes their sacrifice to the Wizarding World, glorifying the murders of two twenty-one year olds who died because society allowed evil to fester and grow rather than take a stand to defend the dignity of all humanity. Over from the stature and six feet under lies the couple, who in their brief lifetime understood death and embraced the life found beyond. They understood their sacrifice because they had known love and had every intention of insuring its survival. Together they had picked out the inscription on their tombstone, and together they had fulfilled it.

_The last enemy to be destroyed is death._

* * *

AN:/ So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the read because I'm really proud of Nabbed and where the story went and ended up. Leave a review if you haven't cause that would be swell and then carry on with your day/evening/night/dawn or whatever. Thanks for reading!


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